Błonie

For other places with the same name, see Błonie (disambiguation).
Błonie
Town hall designed by Enrico Marconi
Town hall designed by Enrico Marconi
Coat of arms of Błonie
Coat of arms
Błonie is located in Poland
Błonie
Błonie
Coordinates: 52°12′N 20°37′E / 52.200°N 20.617°E / 52.200; 20.617
Country Poland
VoivodeshipMasovian
CountyWarsaw West
GminaBłonie
First mentioned11th century
Town rights1337
Government
[1]
 • MayorZenon Reszka
Area
[2]
 • Total
9.09 km2 (3.51 sq mi)
Population
 (31 December 2021)[3][4]
 • Total
12,058
 • Density1,327/km2 (3,440/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code
05-870 to 05-872
Area code+48 22
Car platesWZ
National roads
Voivodeship roads
Websitehttp://www.blonie.pl/

Błonie [ˈbwɔɲɛ] is a town in Warsaw West County, Masovian Voivodeship, Poland, with a population of 12,058 as of December 2021.[3]

History

The settlement dates back to the 8th century.[5] It was first mentioned in the 11th century, and already in the 12th century constituted a sizeable settlement with the first church founded in 1257 by Duke Konrad II of Masovia. The church built in the Early Gothic style exists to this day, although rebuilt several times. The town rights were granted to Błonie by Duke Władysław of Kraków on 2 May 1338.[5] Błonie was a royal town of Poland and a county seat in the Masovian Voivodeship in the Greater Poland Province of the Polish Crown. In the 16th century Błonie was a prosperous town, especially known for shoemaking and brewing.[5] Five annual fairs were held in the town.[5] The town was granted new royal privileges in 1580 and 1688.[5] One of two main routes connecting Warsaw and Dresden ran through the town in the 18th century and Kings Augustus II the Strong and Augustus III of Poland often traveled that route.[6] In 1794, during the Kościuszko Uprising, Poles led by Stanisław Mokronowski won the Battle of Błonie against Prussia.

World War II

Military cemetery of Polish soldiers fallen in the 1939 defensive war

During the Nazi German invasion of Poland at the onset of World War II, the unit of Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler murdered 50 civilians (mostly Jews) on the outskirts of Błonie in a single mass execution, on (pl) of 18 September 1939. In 1939, the Germans established a transit camp for Polish prisoners of war in the town, and later also a forced labour camp.[5] The Polish resistance movement was active in the town's vicinity.[5]

German authorities established a Jewish ghetto in Błonie in December 1940,[7] in order to confine the Jewish population of the town for the purpose of persecution, terror, and exploitation.[8] The ghetto was liquidated in February 1941, when all its remaining 2,100 Jewish inhabitants were transported aboard the Holocaust train to the Warsaw Ghetto, the largest ghetto in all of German-occupied Europe, with over 400,000 Jews crammed into an area of 1.3 square miles (3.4 km2) (meaning that every person had less than an area 9 feet by 10 feet in which to sleep, eat and walk around the ghetto), or 7.2 persons per room.[9] By the time Poland was liberated from German occupation, not a single Jewish ghetto remained.[10][11][12]

Transport

Błonie railway station, opened in 1902 on the Warsaw–Kalisz Railway, is served by Koleje Mazowieckie, who run services between Kutno and Warszawa Wschodnia.

Sports

The local football club is Błonianka Błonie [pl]. It competes in the lower leagues.

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Poland

Twin towns - sister cities

Błonie is twinned with:[13]

References

  1. ^ "Burmistrz". blonie.pl (in Polish). Gmina Błonie. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  2. ^ "Local Data Bank". bdl.stat.gov.pl. Statistics Poland. Retrieved 2 October 2022. Category K1, group G441, subgroup P1410. Data for territorial unit 1432014.
  3. ^ a b "Local Data Bank". bdl.stat.gov.pl. Statistics Poland. Retrieved 2 October 2022. Category K3, group G7, subgroup P1336. Data for territorial unit 1432014.
  4. ^ "Local Data Bank". bdl.stat.gov.pl. Statistics Poland. Retrieved 2 October 2022. Category K3, group G7, subgroup P2425. Data for territorial unit 1432014.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Gmina Błonie, The History of Błonie. Archived 2019-10-09 at the Wayback Machine Oficjalny serwis internetowy Miasta i Gminy Błonie. (in Polish)
  6. ^ "Informacja historyczna". Dresden-Warszawa (in Polish). Retrieved 15 May 2021.
  7. ^ The statistical data compiled on the basis of "Glossary of 2,077 Jewish towns in Poland" Archived 2016-02-08 at the Wayback Machine by Virtual Shtetl Museum of the History of the Polish Jews  (in English), as well as "Getta Żydowskie," by Gedeon,  (in Polish) and "Ghetto List" by Michael Peters at www.deathcamps.org/occupation/ghettolist.htm  (in English). Accessed July 12, 2011.
  8. ^ "The War Against The Jews." The Holocaust Chronicle, 2009. Chicago, Il. Accessed June 21, 2011.
  9. ^ Warsaw Ghetto, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM), Washington, D.C.
  10. ^ Richard C. Lukas, Out of the Inferno: Poles Remember the Holocaust, University Press of Kentucky 1989 - 201 pages. Page 13; also in Richard C. Lukas, The Forgotten Holocaust: The Poles Under German Occupation, 1939-1944, University Press of Kentucky, 1986, Google Print, p.13.
  11. ^ Gunnar S. Paulsson, "The Rescue of Jews by Non-Jews in Nazi-Occupied Poland," Journal of Holocaust Education, Vol.7, Nos.1&2, 1998, pp.19-44. Published by Frank Cass, London.
  12. ^ Edward Victor, "Ghettos and Other Jewish Communities." Archived 2011-06-08 at the Wayback Machine Judaica Philatelic. Accessed June 20, 2011.
  13. ^ "Miasto partnerskie". blonie.pl (in Polish). Gmina Błonie. Archived from the original on 2 October 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
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